Three Lovers
by dragonflybeach
Summary: Because most people have a few serious relationships before they find the one they're going to spend the rest of their lives with. Draco/Pansy, Draco/Luna, Draco/Astoria, Draco/?
1. Pansy

They broke up over strawberry jam.

Pansy came to breakfast late, as the elves stopped refilling the serving dishes, and asked for a piece of his toast. Because he was operating on exactly two hours of sleep after staying up almost all night working on that damn cabinet again, because he was stressed over how he would answer for the delay in his mission, because he had potions coming up first thing this morning and he was plotting how he could sneak out a few key ingredients from the supply closet unnoticed, he didn't think. He handed her the piece that was in his hand, which he had not bitten off, mind you, rather than the piece that was still on his plate.

The piece that was still on his plate was plain. The piece in his hand had been spread with strawberry jam.

To quote Seamus Finnigan, who had reported the incident to Gryffindor house, "She went nuclear, she did." Whatever that meant.

Pansy had thrown the offensive piece of bread at him, and it had stuck to his robes.

She shouted at him, in front of everyone like some muggle streetvendor, that she could not believe, after all this time, that he didn't remember she didn't like strawberry jam. That he was the worst boyfriend ever, because he didn't remember the little things about her. He had forgotten both their anniversary and her birthday this year. That he never spent time with her any more, he didn't play Quidditch any more, he didn't do anything fun any more. That she didn't know who it was, or where he was meeting her, but obviously Draco had a bit on the side. That Pansy could not believe that she had wasted a third of her life being his girlfriend just for him to treat her like this.

Draco sat in silence and let her rage. He couldn't even summon the energy to shout back at her. If he could have, what would he have said? He couldn't tell her about his Mission, especially not in the middle of the Great Hall in front of half the school.

In the end, when his girlfriend of nearly five years stood to walk away, her last words "Don't even think about coming crawling back to me after this!", the only thing Draco really felt was relief.


	2. Luna

It just seemed as if the universe conspired against them.

Luna told him that the situation seemed rather "Movie of the Week" and then had to explain to him what a movie of the week was.

All he knew, is that she would talk to him when he brought their food. Not as he deserved, but as a friend.

And one day, he wasn't exactly sure when, he answered her.

They talked more and more until he was sneaking down to see her when he wasn't bringing food. That he began to look forward to the time he spent with her. Until he began to see that she wasn't crazy at all.

Or maybe she was, because she enjoyed spending time with him too.

The day she was taken away, he still refused to use the word "escape" because that would make it real that she had left him behind, he had rushed to her cell, leaping over Pettigrew's body at the bottom of the stairs to confirm his worst fear. He had honestly been more afraid that moment that he would never see her again than he was of whatever the Dark Lord was going to do to his family.

He did see her again. At Hogwarts, on the night of the Great Battle. When it was all over, he had tried to talk to her. Two aurors had tackled him and taken him away before he could make his way across the room.

She came to visit him while he was awaiting trial. She promised to wait for him.

Nothing else mattered in that moment.

And she had waited. He served a year in Azkaban, and was released on ten years probation. She met him outside the prison doors.

That was the beginning of the end.

They couldn't go out in public. People spit on him. They screamed at her, for being seen with a Death Eater.

They couldn't stay in. Her father hated Draco and everything he stood for, even if Draco didn't stand for those things any more, and hadn't really stood for them in the first place, truth be told. Her friends didn't trust him. His friends all thought she was mad. His mother kept pressing him to find a "decent" girl and settle down.

They couldn't even be alone together. Because so many nights, he would turn to speak to her, and that tiny scar next to her left eye would catch his attention. He would remember how she had gotten that scar, how he had not tried to stop Auntie Bella from torturing Luna, and the guilt would eat him alive.

Ten months, four days, and six hours after he was released from Azkaban, he told her it was over.

She told him she would always love him. He asked her not to.

She walked out of the Leaky Cauldron that night, and he didn't know if he would ever see her again.

He knew he would never see his heart again.


	3. Astoria

He always knew the day would come, and finally it did.

Luna's wedding to Rolf Scamander made the front page of every wizarding publication in the world. They were married on the groom's family's nature preserve in Africa. A fucking hippogriff was the best man.

Draco didn't leave the house for almost a month afterwards. Hell, he barely left his bedroom.

He certainly didn't leave the bottle.

His mother finally came in, threw a pitcher of ice water on him, and handed him a bottle of hangover potion.

"You've moped long enough." she announced. "You have a duty to the Malfoy heritage. You must get married and produce an heir. You're almost twenty five. If you don't get married soon, everyone will assume that you are gay. Get up, get dressed, go get a haircut, and get one of your suits taken in so it won't be so obvious how much weight you've lost. Everyone will think you're dying of some dread muggle disease. The Greengrasses are having a dinner party tomorrow night, and you are going."

He found himself seated next to the youngest daughter. Her mother listed her child's selling points as if she were showing real estate for sale. Draco's own mother did the same for her child. The two women were about as subtle as a train wreck.

After dinner, Astoria leaned in and whispered. "They're about to make me bonkers. Want to walk outside and get some fresh air?"

He followed her out onto the veranda, where she lit a cigarette and looked at him with irritation.

"You know as well as I do what our mothers are trying to do. I'm practically an old maid in wizarding society, six years out of Hogwarts and still unmarried. Let's just cut to the chase, shall we? I will never fall in love with you. I don't care how handsome or charming you are or how much we have in common. I already found my soul mate. He died in the Battle of Hogwarts. I don't care what anyone else says, there will never be another for me. End of discussion. You can pursue me if you wish, but you will never have my heart."

He nodded. "I appreciate your honesty." He looked up at the stars for a moment, before he turned back to her, smiling without mirth. "You and I have more in common than you think."


	4. The Rest of Forever

Astoria died on a Tuesday morning.

She had gone to St Mungo's to have a routine procedure done. That was what they called such things. A procedure, because surgery was such an ugly word.

She would only be in the hospital overnight, the healers said. She would be sore for a few days, and could gradually resume her normal activities, but no lifting anything for at least a month.

She never made it off the table.

She had an allergic reaction to the anesthesia. The healers had done everything they could, but in the end, it wasn't enough.

She was only sixty one, young for a witch to die.

Her husband of thirty seven years stood dry eyed by her grave. Everyone said he was being strong for Scorpius.

Draco hoped that wherever she was now, she was with Theo, and she was happy.

He knew at some point he would grieve alone. He would miss her presence. She had been Draco's friend and helpmate for all these years. They had more good times than bad. They had presented a united front to the world, and then come home and fallen apart together because neither could have the one they wanted. They had bonded over shared misery rather than love or affection.

Draco didn't regret the years he had spent with Astoria.

He only regretted that neither of them had been truly happy.

The day after the funeral, an owl came. It was short and to the point.

Dear Draco,

I am so very sorry to hear about your wife.

Luna

His first thought was shame that he had not sent a similar message when Rolf Scamander had been killed by a manticore twelve years ago.

His second was that he could see Luna now.

He sent a note back, inviting her to meet him for tea at Madame Puddifoot's the next day. He didn't receive a response, but he went anyway.

He waited for nearly twenty minutes. He was just standing to leave when she walked in the door.

Her hair was more grey than blonde now. Draco couldn't say much, as his was mostly gone. Then she smiled at him, and he was eighteen again.

They talked of all the things that had happened over the years that they had missed in one another's lives. They thought they had talked an hour, maybe two.

They were shocked when the manager told them that the shop had been closed for over an hour, the staff was finished cleaning up, and everyone would really like to go home now.

Draco walked Luna outside, and they both looked up at the stars.

"Where do we go from here?" he asked.

"Forward." she smiled.


End file.
